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To stop the Home Office from separating a widowed mother from her two young children who are both British/EU citizens and allow her to remain in the UK as their primary carer. To stop our government from treating people in an unlawful and inhumane way.

If you would like to stop the Home Office for trying to separate a widowed mother from her two children then please read on and sign this petition.

This is the very sad story of my close friend and family member Om Gorry:

Within a three year period Om Gorry lost her father and mother from cancer and shortly after her husband Alan Gorry was killed in a tragic motorbike accident. This left Om on her own in Thailand with her two young children who are both British/EU Citizens. After rejecting an initial application for Om and her children to return to the UK (which was a very costly and upsetting experience) we requested an administrative review and were delighted to receive the news that the Home Office had awarded Om with an EEA family visa which allowed her and her children to live in the UK with her mother in law Pat Gorry (mother of the deceased Alan Gorry).

Since arriving in the UK in April 2014 the family have settled in very well, both children started school and are loving their life in the UK with their English family - life was just starting to look positive again.

However... after applying twice for a derivative card the home office have rejected both applications going back on their original decision of allowing Om access to the UK as the primary carer of her two British/EU children. They have confiscated her passport telling her that she must leave the UK immediately or appeal.

In the rejection letter from the Home Office they have come to the conclusion that Om's mother in law Pat Gorry can now take over the role as primary carer. This decision has been made with no assessment of Pat's financial or health situation let alone the impact this will have on Om and her children. Om has already lost her mother, father and husband and she is now faced with the loss of her two children if she has to return to Thailand. Pat is not able to look after the children as she works in London during the week - she works because she needs the money however the home office have assumed that she works because she chooses to. She also suffers from a heart condition (enlarged aorta) so needs to keep her blood pressure low. She will also be 70 this year so how she is expected to be the primary carer for two young children is totally unacceptable.

If Om is forced to leave the UK then she will have no other choice but to take her children with her therefore denying their rights as British/EU citizens. The physiological impact of losing their father, grandparents, moving to the UK, settling into a new life and then moving away from their close and loving family will be devastating. How can the Home Office be allowed to put this family though such a traumatic experience when they have suffered so much pain and upset already? More importantly the decision they have made is contrary to UK Immigration law so the law they are legally obliged to abide by has not been put into practice.

We have now been forced to lodge an appeal (full details below) which will be yet again another costly and very upsetting experience.

The main aims of signing this petition is to get Om a Derivative card which she is entitled to according to UK immigration law, to add weight to our appeal and to allow two British/EU children to stay in the UK with their mother. So please please help us by signing this petition. When you have signed it we would be very grateful if you can pass the message on - via Facebook and by emailing your non Facebook friends and family asking them to sign and pass it on.

We can't let our government treat people like this so together we must stand!

Thank you in advance for your help and support.

Helen Thompson

Appeal:

Home Office Reference Number G1221777.

The Secretary of State’s decision is contrary to the law, as it breaches the principle established in the case of Zambrano, as protected in Paragraph 15a of the Immigration (EEA) Amendment (No 2) Regulations 2012 and Article 20 TFEU. Om is the only person with parental responsibility for her two British children, as their father is now deceased. She has been the children’s primary carer since they were born and the appellant’s mother in law has no parental responsibility and is also not capable of taking on parental responsibility.

The Secretary of State’s decision is contrary to the law, as it fails to consider the Best Interests of the child, as protected under s55 of the Border, Citizenship and Immigration Act 2009 and the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (Article 3, 27 and 28). Om is the biological mother of two British children, who have tragically lost their father and, due to their age (10 and 4 years), are highly reliant on their mother for all their needs. It would be against their best interests to be separated from their mother, or to be forced to leave their schools in England to relocate to Thailand.

The Secretary of State’s decision is not in accordance with the law as it has failed to give proper regard for the application of Article 8 ECHR. The Secretary of State’s recent changes to the rules did not over-ride this legal duty imposed by the Human Rights Act 1998 to consider any interference of Article 8 Rights in her decisions. The Home Office decision fails to take into consideration the disproportionate interference to Article 8; Private Life and Family of the appellant, her mother in law and Om's two British children, that the decision causes.

The Secretary of State’s decision failed to take into consideration the compassionate and exceptional circumstances of Om's case and is contrary to the legitimate expectations given to Om. Om held indefinite leave to remain in the UK but had to hurriedly leave England in 2007 to see her ill father, who died shortly after. The appellant was then prevented from returning to the UK due to circumstances beyond her control; she lost her immediate family (father, mother and husband) all in quick succession within this period. Her application to return as a Returning Resident was refused by the Home Office, who later withdrew that decision after Om appealed, and granted her an EEA family permit on the basis of her son in order that she and her two children could return to the UK. The decision, that she does not now qualify under Zambrano, a few months after being granted a visa on the same ground, is therefore illogical and the Secretary of State should have exercised her discretion otherwise.

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To stop the Home Office from separating a widowed mother from her two young children who are both British/EU citizens and allow her to remain in the UK as their primary carer. To stop our government from treating people in an unlawful and inhumane way.

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